Mina the Hollower review

Exceptional

by Rogueh

Six years in the making, and worth every single one of them. Mina the Hollower is a masterpiece from Yacht Club Games – and yes, I'm saying that as someone who put 40 hours into Shovel Knight. This is better. You play as Mina, a mouse engineer armed with a whip called Nightstar, sent to restore six corrupted generators on a gothic-horror island called Tenebrous Isle. The premise is simple. The execution is extraordinary. The gameplay loop is built around Hollowing: burrowing underground temporarily makes Mina invincible, letting her reposition mid-combat, cross gaps, dodge the undodgeable. Everything – enemies, bosses, puzzles, level design – is structured around this mechanic. It rewards mastery beautifully. The interconnected world recalls the best Game Boy Zelda titles in its logic and generosity. The boss fights are spectacular and demanding: I retried some fifteen times, learned something every attempt, and savoured every victory. That's the school of game design this belongs to – difficulty as a teacher, not a gatekeeper. Visually flawless in its 8-bit Game Boy Color style, 120fps on Switch 2, exceptional chiptune soundtrack. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's die and retry. No, there are no difficulty adjustments. And that's exactly the point. At €19.99, Mina the Hollower is one of the best-value games ever made. A must-have for your backlog, and for your gaming education. Full French review: https://rogueh24.fr/test-du-jeu-mina-the-hollower/